Each week on The Newsfeed, host Paris Jackson and a team of veteran journalists dive deep into one topic and provide impactful reporting, interviews and community insights from sources you can trust. Each day this week, this post will be updated with a new story from the team.
Mayor Anders Ibsen lays out his vision for Tacoma
Like many Washington cities, there’s a duality in local government in Tacoma: opportunities, but also major fiscal challenges: with a new mayor leading the way. Paris Jackson sat down with Mayor Anders Ibsen, now six months in office, to learn how his administration plans to navigate moving the city forward.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: “Mayor Ibsen, you've been in this position now six months. And you're not new to City Hall, though. You're a former council member. In what tangible ways are you working to make your vision for the city a reality for residents?
Ibsen: “My biggest priorities as your mayor are to make the city more inclusive, more innovative and more efficient in service towards not just the city's goals, but honestly, just based on how you feel about your city. As a Tacoma lifer myself, and as I'm sure as a former Tacoman yourself, you recognize we have so much going on that we love and enjoy about our city, and we have a lot of the same pain points that many other communities have. But ultimately, it's about utilizing that, that talent that we have, that grit, dare I say. And my goal, besides all the policy stuff that we'll talk about, is fundamentally just allowing you to feel prouder about the place that you call home. And I think we definitely have it in us.
In terms of some of the biggest challenges so far that your administration has faced, what are some of those?”
“If you just ask the average Tacoman at the door, which I did very robustly last year, is how you feel safe in your neighborhoods. It's about progress with economic development and not just any old job, but living wage jobs and real opportunities for our youth. Homelessness. Seeing visible, tangible progress not just as a city, but regionally, as the region's leader. And ultimately just making sure that people can see clear, visible improvements in their neighborhoods with public safety, with homelessness, like we mentioned, code enforcement and making sure that there's accountability for how we dictate what success looks like so that we can actually show that we're doing our homework. And we’re delivering for you.”
Facing the challenge of the city’s $40 million general fund shortfall
The City of Tacoma is the midst of working to close a roughly $40 million general fund shortfall with projections that its deficit will balloon in the next two years.
Recently, the new City manager, Hyun Kim, updated city council on his new strategic plan, the "Roadmap to Recovery," an effort to close its multi-million-dollar fiscal gap.
Mayor Ibsen told us how the city plans to get back on course.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: “Tacoma isn't unique, as you've mentioned, in its financial challenges, like many cities in Washington. The city has a projected $40 million general fund deficit, and it's anticipated to grow in the next biennium. What changes have you made already and what lies ahead?”
Ibsen: “I've cut my own expenses in the Mayor's Office right now, in terms of a lot of my own travel, my involvement. We have a hiring freeze currently. We've already gone through reduction exercises with our departments. But a budget isn't just simply about cutting. And it's not just simply a numbers exercise. It's people. It's about how we make your life better. And so, as part of our what's called Road to Recovery program, we're going to be using this budget exercise not just to keep costs under control. Because what does that really mean? I mean numbers by themselves don't mean anything to the average Tacoman. It’s the cop arriving on time. It's your street looking dignified. It's making sure people are getting assistance instead of that encampment remaining (around) your home for month, after month, after month. What we're really looking at is using the budget as a moral document that’s in line with our stated strategy that we build with you, that we co-create with the community. Using this exercise, even if we do have to make tough choices to actually make these services better, not just to lessen them, not just to balance things on a sheet like a bureaucrat. But to think like leaders and to actually align how we're spending your money with what you've told us matters the most to you.”
Working on a “unified regional approach” to homelessness in Pierce County
Tacoma is dealing with its own homelessness crisis. The city provides most shelter beds and services for Pierce County, while there is an increasing uptick in people outside the city limits using those resources.
Six months into the Mayor Anders Ibsen’s administration, he explains how the city is working to address the problem.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: As many know, the city provides the bulk of shelters and services to Pierce County. Where is progress today to get unhoused people into permanent housing?
Ibsen: “We're looking longer-term at one of those root causes. And it's exactly what you mentioned. Tacoma has 20% of the region's population. We have 80% of the region's housing and services in beds. And that's completely unfair. And it's also impractical, because we are very focused on budget sustainability. We're just as challenged as everyone else. And it's really imperative that everyone in the county pulls their weight. And I'm glad to report that we are making progress there.
We're engaged in what's called a “unified regional approach,” in partnership with Pierce County, with our surrounding suburban friends. And we are working on a process of reducing duplication and ensuring greater accountability by ensuring that everyone is using the same data system so that folks actually get help, instead of having to relive their trauma time and time again with organizations... As you can imagine, homelessness is immensely complex. But ultimately, we have to look at the root causes. We have to look at advocating for preventing people from falling through the cracks in the first place through a smart, more robust, affordable housing strategy. Building opportunities by providing for more living wage opportunities for our youth and for our adult workforce.”
Where does the city stand today in holding other leaders more accountable to evenly disperse the help that the City of Tacoma is providing?
Mayor Ibsen: “That's precisely the basis for the unified regional approach, is making sure that we're in agreement that if you're going to benefit from this shared data, if you're going to benefit from working more closely together, then do something. Have a shelter, help McKinney-Vento kids because, I mean, if you want to talk about total moral failures, there are schools in our community in which one out of five are housing unstable, which means they're surfing couches, living in cars, coming to school hungry. It's just utterly heartbreaking and a complete moral failure in our society’s part, and recognizing that this isn't just a Tacoma problem.”
Trying to Make First-time Homeownership More Accessible in Tacoma
Like many areas of Western Washington, the affordability crisis - from rising median home prices to booming rents - is affecting the south Puget Sound region.
For years, Tacoma has been ahead of the curve on easing housing zoning codes. Ibsen explains the levers the city is using under his administration to make first-time homeownership a reality.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: At the beginning of June, the city authorized a new 12-year limited property tax exemption for multifamily housing units. What will that mean for more affordable and rental housing around the city?
Ibsen: "Something I'm so proud of, in the city's direction, is that we have grabbed the bull by the horns on housing affordability years before other folks in our state. So, before the state legislature passed what's called a Missing Middle Law allowing for more ADUs, townhouses, duplexes in our residential areas to give folks more housing choices and to lower housing costs by increasing supply. We did that with Home in Tacoma [zoning] years before. We have pre-approved designs for accessory dwelling units, which means you spend a lot less time waiting for permitting and racking up fees, and more time building. Building the thing, right? We're starting to do that with townhouses, which - back to the previous example - that's something that's disproportionately going to be starter homes. Because, speaking as someone with a housing background myself, the housing affordability and supply crisis isn't evenly spread. It is hurting first-time homebuyers, or would-be first home buyers disproportionately more than anyone... I just turned 40 just a few months ago, 40 is now, the new average age for a first-time home buyer in the United States. And it's even higher in expensive housing markets like the West Coast. Completely unacceptable. We are going to leverage every single tool we have our disposal through our land use code or building code, finance options, community partnerships to ensure that we are disproportionately giving the most help to folks, who are here trying to get their foot in the door through homeownership, trying to help people get access to affordable housing.”
Facing a myriad of public safety challenges
Ibsen campaigned on addressing the complexity of public safety. He spoke with us about how the city should go about that. He also weighed in on the Northwest Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Detention Center in the city and Pierce County’s controversial sheriff.
Paris Jackson, Cascade PBS: In May, the city approved a resolution for the City Manager to use existing resources to enhance community safety in portions of the Hilltop, the North End and Central Tacoma, just to name a few. What will those investments look like for residents and how will they roll out?”
Ibsen: “Safety is multifaceted, and it begins and ends with appropriate staffing so that when there's an emergency, whether it's our law enforcement, our EMT and firefighters and our associated alternative responders, folks who help homeless folks get services. For example, folks who help you process what happened after something like a theft or a car problem. For example, that there's adequate staffing to help you in those situations. But at the same time, we can't just react to emergencies. We have to be forward-thinking. And public safety is just as much about how you feel about your neighborhood, about the opportunity for people to come together. And so I'm really proud of our community rallying behind what's called, Tacoma Creates, which is a locally driven effort to fund community and artistic organizations.”
The Tacoma Police Department has had a history of disproportionately policing Black residents. When you were running for mayor, you said people deserved to feel safe – not just reacting to crime, but the city needs a strategy to address its root causes. How will residents feel these changes?
“It's not just about numbers. It's how you show up and whether you’re showing up at all. And so I'm so proud of our newly appointed chief, Patti Jackson, for example, for not just waiting for a crisis or worse, to show up and to meet with leadership. But for taking the initiative along with myself, other members of the council, with members of our faith community, with our Black leaders, with members of all sorts of important community organizations to bring the conversation to them in between the meetings and before things come to a head. And that's how leadership needs to act. We absolutely need to have requisite staffing, but we also need to make sure that we're investing on the front end by making sure that there are job opportunities for our youth. That contracting for small businesses from our Black community and from other communities have adequate access to opportunities to do business with our city and in our city, for example, so that we're not just reacting to problems, but building wealth, building real opportunities, and leading on the front end.”
Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank has come under fire for several controversial issues. In November, voters will decide whether the Pierce County sheriffs should be appointed by the county executive and also confirmed by (County) Council rather than elected. And in addition to that, the sheriff's term would be reduced early by two years. As Mayor, where do you stand on this?
“Speaking for myself, because the City Council hasn't taken a position on this, but I myself, am in support. I think it's thoughtful because there are some things you shouldn’t politicize. You shouldn't politicize who gets a business license, for example. You should just follow the law and get and act according to regulation. You shouldn't politicize how people are taxed. People should just follow the rules, and it should be based on objective, knowable statistics. And you shouldn't politicize public safety. Public safety should be run by trained professionals who meet an objective standard, and how you’re treated shouldn’t be based on the whims of politics. It should be based on impartial professionals enforcing the law.”
A report last April by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights found that over a decade between 2015 and 2025, the Tacoma Police Department had a pattern of responding poorly, if at all, to calls for help from those detained in the (Northwest Ice Detention Center). You’re new as Mayor, but from what you know, what was the reason for the poor police response?
“I've personally visited detainees. I did it as part of the learning process that I did to become the mayor. I spoke with a gentleman, who was a lawful green card holder for years, and ICE threw him in there when he went to a court hearing despite being married to American citizen for years. I have literally seen and heard about the injustices with my own eyes and ears. It is not lost on me. I can't comment on ongoing investigations or police work, right. I mean, that's not appropriate for me to get in the way of professionals doing that. What I will say is that the city has been consistently showing up in Olympia, for example.”
